


Worms

by Justamanlymouse



Series: Childhood Lullaby [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Endgame, Fluff, Happy Family, Introspective Tony Stark, M/M, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, POV Tony Stark, Parent Tony Stark, Stepdad James "Bucky" Barnes, Tony Stark Lives, Tony is a good dad, What Endgame?, WinterIronFam, he's just very happy and very grateful, just so much fluff, mild reference to past trauma, that is to say
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:48:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24323053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Justamanlymouse/pseuds/Justamanlymouse
Summary: Tony may not be a fan of the gross lullabies James sings to his daughter, but Morgan loves it when James sings songs from his childhood. Who is he to say no to her?James' head turns, and he waves. “I was uh, we were just,” he shrugs, and gives Tony that sheepish crooked smile that no one who only knows the Winter Soldier would believe existed.“You were traumatizing my daughter is what you were doing,” Tony says, arching his eyebrow dramatically.“No!” Morgan says, clambering into James’ lap and spreading her arms wide, as if to protect him.For StarkBucks Bingo 2020Title: WormsCollaborator Name: MouseSquare Filled: I3 - LullabyShip/Main Pairing: James “Bucky” Barnes/Tony StarkRating: TMajor Tags & Triggers: Fluff, WinteIronfam, tw for mentions of bugs and wormsWord Count: 1776
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Series: Childhood Lullaby [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1755946
Comments: 15
Kudos: 153
Collections: StarkBucksBingo2020





	Worms

**Author's Note:**

> Big thanks to [Notanniex](https://notanniex.tumblr.com/) for always cheer reading and making me finish things, and to [Gabby227](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gabby227/pseuds/gabby227) Gabby227 and [RiotFalling](https://archiveofourown.org/users/riotfalling/pseuds/riotfalling) for Betaing!

_“The worms crawl in, and the worms crawl out.”_

Tony hears the low rumble of James’ voice first, then he hears his daughter giggle.

_“The ones that crawl in, are lean and thin.”_

Uh, gross? Morgan’s giggles don’t stop though. Weird girl. Is he the only one in this house that finds worms very, very not cute? He makes his way upstairs, using every sneaking tactic he’d picked up from Nat. Quiet isn’t generally his style, but this he’s got to see. Peak without ruining the moment and all that.

 _“The ones that crawl out, are fat and stout.”_ She screams in that piercing way that only delighted children do, a sound that’s music on a good day and.. well, kind of exhausting on a bad one. Great sound. Ten out of ten. Would recommend. He’s obsessed with it. Especially on bad days, now. After.

James’ voice is getting dramatic now, big and menacing. Not menacing in a ‘Hey I’m a traumatized soldier who can kill you with a toothpick’ way, more in a ‘I’m a big fluffy teddy bear - er, Bucky bear - and I will certainly tickle you to death’ way. _“Your eyes fall in and your hair falls out!”_

“No! James,” Morgan screams, and Tony can tell the difference between a fun scream and a ‘death is coming for me, Daddy’ one, he really can. But he feels his heart stutter at that ‘no’ all the same. Too many fucking disasters have fallen around this family to not.

“Yes!” James says as Tony leans against the doorframe, watching them. His grin is feral as he dramatically rises up, before pouncing back down and attacking her tummy with raspberries and tickles. It’s nice, really. Morgan is Tony’s daughter. She’s brilliant and sassy and precocious and Tony loves all that. He talks to her like she’s just a small person, because, well, that’s what kids are, he’s pretty sure. But it’s nice, James giving her the space to be five in a way that Tony just isn’t as good at.

It’s not like Tony’s afraid he’s fucking up as much as his own old man or anything, but the more adults doing things in different ways the better, probably. Variety is the spice of life or something.

 _“Your brain turns into maggot pie,”_ James sings, but Morgan is distracted now, staring at Tony. Whoops. Cover blown. Bad spy, bad. He waves at his girl, and she gives him a smile that lights up the room, and fuck if he isn’t the luckiest son of a bitch in the universe.

James' head turns, and he waves as well. “I was uh, we were just,” he shrugs, and gives Tony that sheepish crooked smile that no one who only knows the Winter Soldier would believe existed.

“You were traumatizing my daughter is what you were doing,” Tony says, arching his eyebrow dramatically.

“No!” Morgan says, clambering into James’ lap and spreading her arms wide, as if to protect him. Fuck. That instinct had better not be genetic. That one will only lead to pain, little girl.

“No?” he asks her, forcing those thoughts away, “Then what’s he doing?”

“Singing a song from when he was little. It’s about dead people getting eaten by worms!”

“Yeah, I picked up on that much, thanks pipsqueak.”

“Well, did you pick up that it was telling kids to stay away from dead bodies when germs were first learned about and kids didn’t know not to touch _dead_ people?” she shoots back, and James is doing something weird with his face, which Tony eventually figures out is trying to contain laughter. “And besides, James used to sing it to Steve to get him to sleep, so I said it would work on me too.”

“It didn’t,” James says flatly, but his eyes are bright and dancing.

“No it did not,” Tony agrees, coming over to the bed and picking up his girl. “James seems to be a little fuzzy on the idea of bedtime, huh? Cause see, here I was thinking that it was a time when we actually tried to go to sleep.” James doesn’t bother to suppress his snort at that. Which - rude. Do as I say, not as I do. That’s what Tony’s operating under here. She can stay up till 4 in the morning when she’s… 12. Is that the right age to develop a bad sleeping schedule and a compulsion to create? 14, maybe.

“He has to finish the song,” Morgan tells him.

“Nope!”

“Yes!”

“Noooo,” he moans, flopping back on her little bed, “It’s too gross.”

“ _You’re_ gross.”

He gasps a dramatic gasp, putting on his best offended face. “Well,” he recovers, “you smell like feet.”

“Well you smell like… a butt!” At this, his very brilliant, very mature daughter dissolves into a fit of giggles, and James dares to snort once more.

“A butt!” he says, sitting up once more. “Well. Fine. You’re feet and I’m a butt, what happens to us in the worm song?”

“I don’t know,” she says, considering this for a moment. “We probably get eaten and mooshed away.”

“Don’t think butts are mentioned directly,” James offers, “it’s more focused on the slimy bits that leak out of your ears and nose.”

“Braaaaains,” Morgan fills in helpfully.

“You two are icky. Seriously, disgusting, the both of you,” Tony huffs. “I’m giving you five more minutes. If the song isn’t over and you’re not in bed by then, we’re doing it…” he puts on his best serious voice, “dad’s way.” Morgan, little fucking Stark that she is, has the audacity to roll her eyes at him.

“It’s supposed to be a threat,” he tells her, but she just giggles. He gives another dramatic sigh before kissing her and James on the top of their heads. “Five minutes,” he reminds them.

“I love you, mmm, twenty seven,” Morgan tells him.

“What? Is this because of the time limit? Twenty seven? I’m offended. Deeply and utterly scarred. I’ll carry this with me. I’ll remind you of this before prom. Twenty seven,” he scoffs.

“Okay, maybe 700,” she relents.

He kisses her once more before leaving them to it. “Well, I still love you 3000,” he tells her, before heading out, the sounds of James’ bassy voice and her giggles filling up the cabin once more.

Five minutes looks more like fifteen, but in the grand scheme of getting Morgan to crash, that is pretty impressive, he has to admit. James flops on the couch across from him, putting his legs in Tony’s lap, and lies back with his eyes closed, groaning.

“Hard work?” Tony chuckles.

“The hardest,” James mumbles, not moving. It’s amazing, really. James is good with kids. Like, really, really good. He remembers Clint’s and Scott’s kid’s birthdays, and has this second nature type instinct for what they’d like. Not just what kids like, but what that particular unique small person would be into. When Tony mentions it, he just brushes it off, mumbling something about siblings and then his time in Russia. Tony doesn’t push, but he always wonders. It’s just one of the many pieces of the puzzle that is James that he doesn’t have yet. The thing with James’ pieces is that he may not have them either, so pushing doesn’t do either of them any good.

Even so, it seems to wear at him. After being Super James and doing magical kid stuff, he flops like this. Tony’s pretty sure he actually understands that piece. Knows that he has to fight for access to certain parts of himself harder than others. And it’s not exactly like singing disgusting lullabies was a part that HYDRA would have prioritized him keeping. He closes out of his ‘couch project’ - just a little game for Peter, to help him focus his reaction time - and takes James’ feet in his hands, rubbing at them. He smiles to himself when James hums a contented noise. Three points for Tony.

“You’re the best,” James mumbles, and Tony does a little shimmy. Hell yeah he is.

“Well, you got her to sleep, so you can be the second best for today,” he offers graciously.

One of James’ eyes crack open at that. Uh oh. Tony flashes him a bright smile. “I’m cute,” he reminds him, “and rubbing your feet.” That seems to work, because the eye falls back shut. Two more points for Tony.

They stay like that, quiet and content, Tony working practiced hands over James’ feet. It’s peaceful. Tony’s never been super great at quiet, but James makes it feel easy. Safe. Well. He did. Tony glares across the couch at him, a smug grin on that stupid face as he hums quietly.

“No,” Tony says.

_“Don’t ever laugh as the hearse goes by…”_

“No!” he shouts, before covering his mouth and glancing up to see if it woke Morgan, James wincing, clearly waiting for the same. When it seems like they’re in the clear, the bastard just starts right back up.

 _“For you… May be… The next…. To die....”_ He’s sitting up, crawling over the couch.

“James, stop it.”

_“And the worms crawl in, and the worms crawl out.”_

“I’m going to go all Iron Man on your ass, I swear to god.”

James grins, pouncing on him at that. “Promise?” he smirks.

Tony is absolutely surrounded by him and he’s never felt safer. Or more annoyed. But then James arches an eyebrow at him, his hair falling forward to tickle Tony’s face. Tony rolls his eyes and his hips at the same time. “One mention of worms and it’s just you and that cold metal hand, motherfucker.”

James laughs a bright and happy laugh at that, and Tony has to swallow thickly, suddenly overcome with how lucky he is, so much laughter surrounding him. He never thought. He never let himself believe.

Suddenly there’s a hand on his face, and James is staring down at him, so sincere it’s almost terrifying. “Stay here with me,” James reminds him quietly, and Tony just nods. They’ve both had to say it to each other so often. Both of them need the reminder from time to time. Being present isn’t something that comes naturally to either of them.

“I love you,” Tony whispers. This honesty thing, he’s taking it for a spin. Therapists say it’s important. Communicate what you feel while you still have the chance.

“Well, I love you twenty-seven,” James says softly, giving Tony a chaste and gentle kiss.

“Not that it’s a competition or anything,” Tony shrugs under him with a show of casualness he absolutely does not feel, “but I love you 3000.”

**Author's Note:**

> Where's Pepper, you ask? *waves hands* Uhhhhhh, Her and Tony are seperated but best friends still and her and Rhodey have a cabin nearby. 
> 
> Come check me out on [tumblr](https://jewishbuchananbarnes.tumblr.com/)? (I'm always down for prompt requests, hell yeah)


End file.
